OCA Withdrawal of Interrogatory OCA/USPS-17Docket No. R2006-1

Before the

POSTAL RATE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20268-0001

Postal Rate and Fee Changes, 2006 ) Docket No. R2006-1

OFFICE OF THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE

WITHDRAWAL OF INTERROGATORY OCA/USPS-17

(August 9, 2006)

The Office of the Consumer Advocate (OCA) hereby withdraws interrogatory OCA/USPS-17 pursuant to an agreement with the Postal Service. Interrogatory No. 17 contained OCA’s request for a copy of every complaint filed during the week of October 10, 2005. The Postal Service filed an objection on July 17, 2006, explaining that 59,450 complaints had been filed that week and that it would require thousands of postal staff hours to ready the complaints for public release. OCA immediately recognized that the benefit of having alarge, representative sample of complaints was far outweighed by the extraordinary expense that the Postal Service would have to incur to provide all of the requested documents.

OCA and the Postal Service were able to work out an alternative approach that produced a much more manageable number of complaints. In fact, approximately 320 have now been collected and are being readied for release. The following method was used to select them:

First, please identify the day during that week (i.e., October 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14, 2005) that the fewest complaints were submitted. Let’s make that the date to home in on.

On that date, please select complainants whose last name begins with “O,” then “Y,” then “I,” then “Z”, then “Q,” then “U.” It is not necessary to go through the complete set of letters listed. Stop when the number captured has reached approximately 500, but please finish the listing for the letter (O, Y, I, Z, Q, or U) being worked on at the time the 500 mark is reached. If the selection has been completed (through "U") but 500 is not reached, would you please let me know the number at that point? If the number is close to 500, it probably is not necessary to make further selections.

Counsel for the Postal Service has informed OCA that, following the filing of this withdrawal document, the Postal Service will file the narrowed selection of complaints as a library reference. The Postal Service has explained that the material filed will reflect the removal of customer specific and other sensitive information, thus permitting the information to be made publicly available. OCA thanks the Postal Service for its cooperation in making a selection of complaints available, and withdraws Interrogatory No. 17.

Respectfully submitted,

Shelley S. Dreifuss, Director

Office of the Consumer Advocate

901 New York Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C.20268-0001

(202) 789-6837; Fax (202) 789-6819

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